Burro montato al timo

Yulan

Yulan

Senior Member
Lombardia
Italian
Hello everybody,

I'd like to translate the menu for a dinner with some customers and I have some doubts on the part in bold:


Primi piatti
Ravioli al formaggio di monte e burro montato al timo
Risotto con pistilli, capesante, rucola e tartufo


First course
"Ravioli" with "Malga" cheese and thyme-flavoured whipped butter
"Risotto" with saffron pistils, scallops, rocket and truffle


Thanks in advance for your suggestions :)
 
    • Hi, I would say "thyme-infused whipped butter".

    The words ravioli and risotto have become standard in English, so in my opinion it's not necessary to put them in quotation marks.
     
    Mi piace.....magari Alpine hut cheese fa più esotico...;)

    "Ravioli" with Alpine hut cheese and thyme-flavoured whipped butter
    "Risotto" with saffron pistils, scallops, rocket and truffle
     
    My culinary knowledge fairly rudimentary, but I think that "saffron threads" is the normal English expression.

    Also, I don't think we ever speak of whipped butter - only whipped cream. I think I would merely omit the word "whipped".

    Otherwise, it all sounds fine to me.

    (I've just seen that Tonza is happy with "whipped butter". I'm happy to concede the point).
     
    Lazzini said:
    (I've just seen that Tonza is happy with "whipped butter". I'm happy to concede the point).
    Click to expand...

    I was indeed happy with whipped butter, considering how much I love it. :) But I knew there was something funny about "pistils" -- you're absolutely right that "saffron threads" is the proper term.
     
    Thanks so much everyone!

    Really appreciate your inputs!

    The final translation then:

    Ravioli with "Malga" cheese and thyme-infused whipped butter
    Risotto with saffron threads, scallops, rocket and truffle


    @B.: Ciao B! Thanks for the "Alpine hut" suggestion, it's nice, though I think that "Malga" is better identifying the "hut" where this kind of cheese is produced.
    As far as "stimmi" is concerned, you're surely right ... but "Risotto agli stimmi" would not flow so well in Italian either :)

    Thanks again everyone and do have a Merry Christmas!
     
    Yulan said:
    I think that "Malga" is better identifying the "hut" where this kind of cheese is produced.
    Click to expand...

    Hi Yulan,

    I'm not sure a native speaker would know what "Malga" is. To be honest, for the uninitiated, it would sound like cheese from a place called Malga :)

    Alpine hut cheese doesn't sound very appetising to me, but maybe just Alpine cheese on its own might work...
     
    Hello Elfa!

    Thanks for your point!

    I see what you mean and I agree: indeed Malga has a definite meaning for Italians only.

    Nevertheless, Alpine sounds too generic to me ... to render the "Malga" siginificance I should find the specific English word identifying the kind of "hut" or "place" where cheese is handmade in the mountains, i.e., a fresh artisanal cheese made without any industrial mean.

    Thanks again in advance for your tips :)
     
    Yulan said:
    Hello Elfa!

    Thanks for your point!

    I see what you mean and I agree: indeed Malga has a definite meaning for Italians only.

    Nevertheless, Alpine sounds too generic to me ... to render the "Malga" siginificance I should find the specific English word identifying the kind of "hut" or "place" where cheese is handmade in the mountains, i.e., a fresh artisanal cheese made without any industrial mean.

    Thanks again in advance for your tips :)
    Click to expand...

    The trouble is that, as Blackman has pointed out, Malga translates as "Alpine hut". Out of interest, what word or words are you proposing? :)
     
    elfa said:
    The trouble is that, as Blackman has pointed out, Malga translates as "Alpine hut". Out of interest, what word or words are you proposing? :)
    Click to expand...


    Elfa,

    Uhmm, I used "malga" not "baita" and even if the difference between these two huts is a very slight one, it may happen that a "baita" does not have the "casera" that is the proper room for hand-working and produce artisanal cheese.

    I do not know how I could effectively translate "Malga" in English, but if you say that "Alpine" renders handmade cheese, I'll be more than happy to follow your suggestion or, in case, Blackman's suggestion, of course!

    Thanks again for your time :)
     
    Ravioli with "Malga" cheese and thyme-infused whipped butter
    Risotto with saffron threads, scallops, rocket and truffle

    For the ravioli, I think you should specify what kind of cheese it is - cow, goat, sheep --- fresh, soft, hard ---- mild, sharp because that's what people really want to know.
    e.g.:
    Semi-hard cow's milk cheese stuffed ravioli with thyme infused whipped butter

    I know it seems reallllllllly long but it will prevent a lot of hassles in the long run for the waitress and the customers.
     
    Yulan said:
    Elfa,

    I do not know how I could effectively translate "Malga" in English, but if you say that "Alpine" renders handmade cheese, I'll be more than happy to follow your suggestion or, in case, Blackman's suggestion, of course!
    Click to expand...

    Well, although "Alpine" doesn't necessarily imply it's handmade, I think in most people's minds, there will be an association between being "Alpine" and "handmade". After all, who would think that cheese made in the mountains would be factory produced?

    Here are a couple of other possibilities:

    natural Alpine cheese or
    Alpine artisinal cheese

    although personally, I just prefer Alpine cheese because it's simpler and, as I said earlier, conveys the sense of the cheese being handmade anyway. :)

    kellytree said:
    e.g.:
    Semi-hard cow's milk cheese stuffed ravioli with thyme infused whipped butter

    I know it seems reallllllllly long but it will prevent a lot of hassles in the long run for the waitress and the customers.
    Click to expand...

    Sorry to disagree a little here, but I think this is an American thing where people want to know the exact nature of the ingredients... I think in the UK, we are less fussy ;)
     
    Last edited by a moderator:
    Maybe it is just an American thing.

    Alpine cheese I guess is fine (without the hut which just sounds silly) but it is very generic.

    Think about when you go to a restaurant and see something like

    "tagliarelli alla montanara" or some such nonsense. I am sure that 80% of the people ask "what's in the montanara"? At this point, if you speak Italian (assuming we are in Italy) it's no problem at all to answer this question.

    or the famous "antipasto della casa" -- everybody asks what it is before ordering it.

    So if the people working at the restaurant speak English it's no problem to answer the question "what kind of cheese is this?" - Which I think is a valid question considering lots of people would barf if they got stuck with stinky goat cheese filling (this is just an example, not a personal opinion).
     
    Oh, Elfa
    I will follow your suggestion .... I mean, it's up to you, as a native, to confirm whether it soulds OK or not and I am really happy you're there to help me through this. :)


    Hi Kelly, :)
    Thankssss a lot for your suggestions!
    I think you are right, but the problem is that I should ask the restaurant because, frankly speaking, I do not know whether we are talking of cows or goats or sheeps ... Anyway, should the customers ask about that, well ... I'll do my best to explain what they are eating ...:eek:


    To summarize, I'll translate it as follows:
    Alpine cheese stuffed ravioli with thyme infused whipped butter

    Now it sounds very appetising, doesn't it? :p


    Thanks again, everyone!

     
    Yulan said:
    To summarize, I'll translate it as follows:
    Alpine cheese stuffed ravioli with thyme infused whipped butter

    Now it sounds very appetising, doesn't it? :p

    Click to expand...

    Sorry to come back to the drawing board again, Yulan :), but if you were translated it as the above, I would write

    Alpine cheese-stuffed ravioli...

    but to me, that is too long and too much of a mouthful (he he :D) so if it were me, I would write it

    Ravioli stuffed with Alpine cheese topped with thyme-infused whipped butter
     
    Sorry to come back to the drawing board again, Yulan :), but if you were translated it as the above, I would write

    Alpine cheese-stuffed ravioli...
    Click to expand...

    I wouldn't even write that, because it sounds like Alpine ravioli stuffed with cheese,
    but this...

    Ravioli stuffed with Alpine cheese topped with thyme-infused whipped butter
    Click to expand...
    ... sounds perfect.
     
    Last edited by a moderator:
    Ravioli stuffed with Alpine cheese topped with thyme-infused whipped butter
    Click to expand...

    WOW, Elfa! That's simply fantastic English! Thanks!

    Uhmm ... now the second part seems so poor!
    Risotto with saffron threads, scallops, rocket and truffle :(
     
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